Temperament Test Helps Match Puppies To Owners

View full sizeSeven week old puppies eagerly await their turn to be tested.

Last week I received an intriguing email from a breeder acquaintance of mine who was raising a litter of golden retriever puppies.

Knowing the breeder’s excellent reputation, I was thrilled when he asked “Would you help us temperament test this litter?” I could write back fast enough with yes, yes, YES!

The testing had to be done on the 49th day, when the puppies reached seven weeks of age. This is when personalities begin to shape and the brain is developed enough to put them through a battery of exercises known as the Puppy Aptitude Test or PAT.

Crafted by renowned trainers/authors Wendy and Jack Volhard, the test helps predict future behavioral traits of adult dogs – an important aide to properly matching puppies with owners. It must be conducted by someone unfamiliar with the puppies in an area they’ve not yet visited. A second volunteer, also unfamiliar, observes and scores each puppy on a 1 to 6 scale.

I poured over the test procedures before that night, as did the other volunteer, to assure we did everything just right. This mission was too important and would help ensure the puppies were placed in the right homes.

There were nine lively puppies to test, each with an identifying color of yarn around its neck.

One by one they were brought up from their lavish basement pen to the breeder’s living room for the exam which took approximately 15 minutes each.

My job was to handle the puppies for each of ten exercises which tested their sociability, desire to follow, reaction to restraint, social dominance, elevation dominance, desire to retrieve, and sensitivity to touch, sound, sight and stability to various stimuli, such as an umbrella popping open.

Can you think of anything more fun than rolling around the floor with a bunch of little fluffballs that can’t wait to give you kisses? But this was serious business and we followed procedure to the letter.

Midway through I was so focused on the task I actually lost count of the puppies. Every time the breeder called out “Here comes Blue” or Here comes Yellow, and released junior into the living room, my heart raced hoping the little tyke would fare well on the exam. And there are no “do overs”. The first reaction is most important.

So what was the breeder looking for exactly? The rating for each exercise shows extremes on either end, the ideal temperament for most puppies falling into the 3 or 4 area. For example a puppy scoring mostly “l’s” and “2”s wants to be top dog and will push his way to the top. Such puppies should only be placed in a very experienced home where he will receive training and be worked with regularly.

Those scoring on the upper end are fearful or shy and unlikely to blend well into an active, chaotic family environment. These puppies require a special home where the environment doesn’t change much and where there are no children.

And what about our tail wagging “3”s and “4”s? A puppy with mostly 3’s displays strong self confidence, needs a strict schedule, loads of exercise and lots of training. Also requires an experienced home.

And that leaves the “mostly 4’s” rating, described as the kind of dog that makes the perfect pet and best choice for the first-time owner. He’s not likely to buck for a promotion within the family.

How did our furry preschoolers do? To be honest I’m not sure since I wasn’t doing the scoring and was too close to observe tail position, etc. But there were subtle differences in their reactions to the test elements.

All came to me readily, and several showed immediate interest in retrieving wadded up balls of paper and all but one licked me in the face when I got to eye level to pet them down their back (social dominance). Restraint required gently holding puppy on his back for 30 seconds and there was a fair amount of wriggling going on but no biting or growling.

After over two hours I was played out but what a way to go! The breeder then had to assess the scores to determine how to match the puppies to approved owners who had reserved them. This is what a reputable hobby breeder does. None of these puppies will land in a rescue or shelter, because the contract requires puppies be returned no matter what the reason if the owner can no longer care for them.

In Part II, we’ll examine what’s going on in golden retriever rescue these days – a benchmark for a growing problem within many popular breeds. I’ll discuss how reputable breeders and educated owners can help lower those numbers.